Fever
by ChibiDragonGilbert
Summary: Dax gets what Beyal calls "jungle fever" and Jinja has to care for him while the young monk, Chase, Jon Ace, and Bren go get the ingredients for the cure. Takes place right after "Hunted".


"Time to get up every one!" cried Jinja. The girl stirred breakfast in a pot above the fire she and Beyal had made. The little monk had risen early to meditate and volunteered to help Jinja prepare breakfast.

Chase stretched yawned. "Geez Jinja, could you have gotten us up any earlier?"

Bren rubbed his eyes sleepily. He gave his glasses a quick clean before placing them on his face. "Yeah Jinja, the sun is barely up."

"We need to get on the road before E.C.L.I.P.S.E. gets a lead on us and sends another wacko like Dom Pyro after us," explained Jinja. "Isn't that right Mr. Ace?"

The man nodded and took a seat by the fire. Beyal handed him a bowl of what looked like to be some kind of soup. "Thank you," grunted Jon before downing the liquid.

Chase and Bren followed suit. They got bowls from the monk and joined Jon in eating. Jinja smiled triumphantly. Her grin dropped when she noticed someone was missing. Looking over her shoulder she spotted Dax curled up a few feet away. Jinja picked up a metal bowl and smacked it with a ladle causing a loud clanging noise.

"Wakey, wakey Dax," cried Jinja. "It's time for breakfast." Dax winced, but didn't budge from his sleeping place. "Dax I don't want to deal with your games today."

Jinja approached Dax. Apparently he was not intimidated by her for he did not even twitch. That irked Jinja. Why did he have to tease her like this?

"GET UP DAX!" snapped Jinja.

"Please princess…Something's not right with me," Dax moaned softly.

Jinja began shaking him by the shoulder. "Dax stop playing around and-," She was caught off mid-sentence when she felt Dax was way warmer than he should be. The girl put a hand on his forehead. Dax was burning up!

"Guys, something's wrong with Dax!" cried Jinja.

Chase, Bren, and Jon Ace immediately rushed to Dax's side. Jon began to examine the sick teen.

"He's got a high fever," informed the man. "He also seems to be suffering from head pain and muscle stiffness and soreness."

"He's got Jungle Fever," said Beyal. "I've read about it at the temple."

"Do you know how to cure it?" asked Chase. The raven haired leader was terribly worried for his sick friend.

"I can. All I need is to gather a few things in the jungle around us," answered Beyal.

"Then let's go," ordered Jon Ace. "Chase, Bren, and I will go with you. Jinja, you stay here and try to keep Dax's fever as low as you can. Too high a fever can cause his organs to shut down."

"Ok," Jinja murmured. She had never taken care of anyone before and was unsure of herself.

The others left and Jinja was all alone with a feverish Dax. "Dax," she whispered. "Are you awake? Did you hear all that?"

"Yeah," mumbled Dax. "I'm glad you're the one staying with me. I think Bren would try to kill me. Ha," Dax tried in vain to joke. He felt as if his body were falling apart.

"Bren couldn't do that. His heart is too soft," Jinja looked around for something to try and bring down Dax's fever with.

She spotted Bren's canteen. Jinja grabbed it and quickly unscrewed the lid. The tomboy turned Dax over onto his back as gently as possible, wincing every time he moaned or twitched from pain in her arms. She removed his beanie from his head and poured the slightly cool water onto his forehead.

"Does that help?" Jinja asked.

Dax gave her a small smile. "A little. Thanks princess."

Jinja attempted to get Dax to eat so he could keep up his strength. He had no trouble swallowing it, but moments later a look of pain crossed his face. "Oh crag, I can't keep it down…"

Acting quickly, Jinja grabbed an empty pot which Dax vomited into. "S-sorry," whimpered Dax.

"It's ok," said Jinja. She rubbed circles on Dax's belly to try and calm his upset stomach. Water worked a lot better which was good since Dax would die without it.

Dax fell asleep. Jinja was getting anxious. Where were the others? She prayed they would come back safe soon with the ingredients to make the cure for Dax's illness. For what seemed like forever she watched Dax's chest rise and fall. Every once in a while he'd groan in pain making Jinja jump, but he'd calm and go back to his peaceful slumber.

"Princess," Jinja jumped. "Could you get me some more water?"

"Sure Dax," Jinja unscrewed her canteen and put it to his lips. Dax drank gratefully. "Dax, can I ask you something?"

Dax looked at her through hazy eyes. "What is it?"

"Why do you call me 'princess'?"

Dax smiled at her. "Do you really want to know?"

Jinja nodded vigorously. Her actions made him laugh. Dax's eyes suddenly showed pure seriousness. He lifted a shaky hand and cupped Jinja's chin. "I call you princess because you are my love and I want to be the knight in shining armor to protect you."

He pulled Jinja down into a kiss. Surprisingly Dax was gentle. His lips were warm and soft. Jinja blushed. She never saw this side of Dax. Under all his cockiness and bad attitude he was a really sweet guy.

Dax released Jinja and noticed she was crying. "It's going to be ok, princess. Little monk fish is going to fix me up, right?"

Jinja sure hoped Beyal could fix him. Dax had fallen back asleep and his periods of pain were becoming more frequent and longer. It got to the point where Dax curled up in a ball from pain. Jinja pulled him up into her lap and tried to comfort him, but it was no use. Dax was too deep in his pain.

"Jinja, we're back," Chase emerged from the forest with Jon and Beyal following close behind. The young monk was carrying many herbs and berries in his arms. Chase's face paled when he saw the state Dax was in.

"Please hurry, Beyal!" cried Jinja. "I don't know how much longer Dax can last through this." Jinja was about to break down. She couldn't take the thought of Dax dying from some stupid fever. "Come on Dax! You're tougher than this! Fight it!" Dax only moaned in reply.

Beyal quickly set a pot of water over the coals of the fire from that morning. He mashed all the vegetation he had gathered together. He threw it in the pot and continued stirring and mashing the mix. The young monk chanted some strange chant in a language team Core-Tech had never heard as he stirred his brew. The only word they could understand was 'destiny'.

Beyal grinned and pulled the pot off the coals. He took Jinja's canteen and emptied the rest of the water out of it and in turn filled it with the medicine he had made.

"Make sure he drinks all of it," cautioned Beyal. "His health could depend on it."

Jinja cautiously poured the medicine down Dax's throat being sure to give him breaks to breathe and not choke him. "He drank it all," she announced and laid the canteen at her side.

The effects of the medicine worked almost instantly. Dax's muscles relaxed and his groans grew less and less until there were none at all. Jinja could also feel Dax's temperature dropping.

"It seems to have worked," declared Beyal. Everyone seemed to release the breath they did not realize they were holding at that moment.

Dax still hadn't woken up by dinner. Jon Ace believed it was because Dax's body was trying to recover the energy it had lost fighting off the jungle fever. After eating, Jinja sat beside Dax to make sure he was really ok. The others thought it was a little weird Jinja was overly worried about Dax, but didn't say anything to avoid her wrath.

Jinja volunteered to take the first watch for the night. Ace wanted to because he believed she had already done enough by taking care of Dax all day, but she insisted. A little ways into her watch she became drowsy and she began to doze off until a familiar voice roused her.

"Hello, princess," the voice purred. Jinja opened her eyes to see Dax sitting in front of her grinning like his usual cocky self.

Jinja leapt into Dax's arms. She slammed her fist into his chest. "Don't _ever_ scare me like that again you jerk!" she whimpered into his chest.

"Whatever you wish, princess."


End file.
